Similar to what the Italian government is planning to offer those who spend their leave in Sicily after COVID-19, the Japanese government announced that they may implement a plan to partially pay for your next trip to Japan – not exactly a free holiday, sure, but the plan is to cover a good portion of it.
The damage of COVID-19 needs no introduction, nor any further explanation. Suffice it to say, global tourism has taken quite the hit and to kickstart this shit again, the world is about to see a whole lot of incentives being thrown at their way. Case in point.
Chief of the Japan Tourism Agency, Hiroshi Tabata, has stated that based on the current projections of case numbers and so forth, the national borders could open as early as July. Meaning depending on how quickly we progress, you could conceivably access this tourism subsidy scheme as early as July.
At this point in time, the agency has set aside a staggering ¥1.35 trillion (~AU$19 billion). The overarching hope is that this expenditure will mitigate the loss of expected revenue from the now-postponed 2020 Olympics.
But before you start Googling ‘Japan free holiday’, you may want to manage expectations a little. Aside from the initial announcement and budget outline, little else is known about in terms of exact details, i.e. percentage of reimbursement, coverage of reimbursement, travel voucher applications, etc.
Find out more in the coming weeks via mlit.go.jp.
Want to plan ahead with checking out the Land of the Rising Sun? Read up on our Bill Murray ‘Lost In Translation’ Travel Guide To Japan.
